"Lightning Feather… huh?"
Kakashi held the feather that Uchiha Yujin had used earlier, then looked toward Kurama Yakumo, who was feeding the immobile Uchiha Yujin with a metal spoon in the distance.
At that moment, he already had his answer.
He flickered forward in an instant and appeared right in front of the three of them, scaring Yakumo so much that she dropped the lunchbox in her hands onto the ground.
Uchiha Yujin snorted in annoyance. "What a waste!"
Kakashi ignored him and spoke on his own. "The three of you have seriously violated the rules. So—your team is disbanded."
Kurama Yakumo's eyes immediately filled with tears.
As the eldest daughter of the Kurama clan head, she had carried the expectations of her entire clan since childhood.
Her clan's ancient kekkei genkai was only awakened by a true genius once every few generations, and she happened to be the lucky one who inherited it in this generation.
But now the Kurama clan had declined, no longer the prestigious ninja clan they once were in the Land of Fire.
Finally having the rare chance to train under a powerful Konoha jōnin… and now it was all ruined in an instant.
Yakumo's mentality completely collapsed, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
The dust she kicked up made Uchiha Yujin squint and cough, and he couldn't help thinking that children raised in peaceful times really had fragile hearts.
On the other side, even Hyūga Neji—known as the genius of the Hyūga clan—didn't look much different from an ordinary kid.
Losing the chance to graduate early meant he would have to stay in that useless ninja academy, repeating lessons he had already mastered long ago, and continue dealing with those annoying children every day.
Thinking of that, both he and Yakumo wilted like eggplants hit by frost.
Kakashi noticed their reactions but didn't say anything more.
However, simply standing there without leaving already hinted that there was more to this situation.
"Don't cry." Uchiha Yujin's voice was unusually serious as he looked at Yakumo. "What's there to cry about? Remember—you're a ninja. Ninjas aren't allowed to cry."
"B-but…" Yakumo sobbed, but Yujin cut her off.
"We've already done really well. This guy cheated. He's eaten more crap than the amount of rice we've ever taken!"
A vein popped on Kakashi's forehead. "What kind of comparison is that supposed to be…"
Yujin ignored him completely. "Among kids our age, no one performed better than us three. Neji, thanks to you gathering intel, I figured out what this Kakashi guy is capable of."
Kakashi: "Huh?"
A complicated expression flashed across Neji's face, and he turned his head away.
"Kurama Yakumo, even though I just met you today, I'm sure that with time, you'll become the strongest genjutsu user in the entire ninja world."
Yakumo's sobbing stopped. "The strongest genjutsu… strongest genjutsu kunoichi?"
Uchiha Yujin shook his head. "Take out the word kunoichi. You'll be the strongest genjutsu ninja."
Yakumo's eyes widened. "Huh?! Really?!"
"In my eyes," Yujin said, "that's exactly what you are."
Kakashi finally couldn't hold back. "You do realize you have a three–tomoe Sharingan, right?"
Yujin ignored him completely. "Kurama Yakumo, believe me. One day, you'll become the genjutsu user your teammates trust the most."
Yakumo's tears glittered at the corner of her eyes. When she nodded hard, the tears shook loose. "Mhm!!! I'll do it!"
Watching the scene, Kakashi felt his ANBU-frozen heart thaw just a little.
He let out a quiet sigh, reached into his pouch, and pulled out the bell. He handed it directly to Yakumo.
"Eh?" Yakumo stared blankly. "W-why?"
Kakashi straightened, repeating the lesson he would one day give Team Seven. "Those who abandon their comrades don't deserve to be called ninja. I saw how you supported one another. From today on, you're officially members of Team Kakashi."
"R-really?!"
Yakumo burst into tears of joy. Neji released a relieved breath.
Only Uchiha Yujin remained calm.
"So," Yujin asked, "when are you teaching me Shadow Clone?"
New Mexico.
Inside a small S.H.I.E.L.D. branch office, Marvel Yujin curiously scanned the displays.
Agent Coulson pointed toward a strange-looking rifle in a glass case. "This is alien tech we recovered from a beach years ago. Its energy blast can drag a whole tank into a black hole."
Yujin frowned. "Then why didn't you use that on the Destroyer?"
"Uh…" Coulson scratched his head. "Because it needs a very, very long time to charge. And it can only fire when the target isn't moving fast. Also—"
"Alright, alright. What about that?" Yujin pointed at a jar filled with clear liquid.
"That's a truth serum," Coulson explained. "Drink it, and you can't lie."
Yujin swallowed hard.
If Konoha's Interrogation Division ever got their hands on this… half their interrogators would be out of a job.
There were plenty of good things inside S.H.I.E.L.D., but after wandering around for a long time, Yujin still didn't find any trace of what he actually wanted.
Of course.
A piece of gene-modification equipment that could slow aging and enhance superhuman physical abilities would never be placed out in the open.
At the very least, they wouldn't let a newly-connected "anti-hero" like him get anywhere near it.
Seeing that Yujin had finished his tour, Coulson stepped forward on behalf of Nick Fury to deliver an invitation.
"Mr. Yujin, we've had many misunderstandings before. But after this battle, we realized that you too are a hero fighting to protect the United States—"
Coulson hadn't even finished his rainbow-colored praises when Yujin suddenly slammed the table.
"I'm not fighting for any damn United States. I'm fighting for the people!"
"Uh…" Coulson nodded awkwardly, quickly correcting himself. "Right— right, for humanity!"
Coulson waved his hand, and Black Widow walked over carrying a suitcase.
She opened it and took out a communicator. Inside were also clothes, shoes, and various pieces of equipment clearly containing special functions.
"Take these. If necessary, we will use this to contact you," Coulson said, just about to close the suitcase and hand it to Yujin— but Yujin turned away, completely absorbed in examining the black-hole gun he had just been holding.
"No need to contact me," Yujin said firmly. "I'm not cleaning up any of your messes. I'll intervene only in the things I want to intervene in. If I don't want to, don't even think about it."
Coulson could only nod and put the suitcase away.
"Then… Mr. Yujin, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division—S.H.I.E.L.D.—has officially withdrawn the nationwide warrant for your arrest. Also, your identity has been registered across all major systems. Your clearance level is now equivalent to that of a Major General. Additionally, your ID—"
"Don't need it." Yujin waved him off. "I came here only because "Eyepatch" allowed me to enter here. Who do you think you people are to me?"
Black Widow finally understood.
The reason Yujin didn't leave and instead wandered around the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch was because he was looking for something.
And clearly—he didn't find it.
"Yujin, why don't you just say it? If there's something you want, I can ask the Director for you."
Yujin clapped his hands.
"Now that's the right question! Yes, there is something I want. Can you give me an injection?"
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., people like Hawkeye, Nick Fury, and Black Widow had all undergone scientific enhancements.
Although their strength, even after enhancement, still didn't match an average Genin, it was better than nothing.
The key advantage was that it could also slow aging, making it one of the enhancement methods that Yujin considered relatively effective.
Natasha Romanoff naturally knew what Yujin was referring to.
She glanced at Coulson, then at Yujin.
"This experiment still isn't particularly mature, and—"
"Not mature?" Yujin interrupted. "Then leave it to smart people to handle. Leave it to Tony Stark. I just need him to give me one injection. Can you trust that? Who knows, maybe we could even get a batch of super agents out of it, just in case of alien invasions or something."
He turned to Coulson.
"For ordinary people like this, Mr. Coulson, even a single spit from an alien could drown them. I don't need them, but do you?"
"Hmm…" Natasha Romanoff hesitated.
She didn't have the authority to make such a decision. Everything at S.H.I.E.L.D. required Nick Fury's approval.
At that moment, a dark figure appeared in the doorway.
Nick Fury looked just like he did in the '90s arcade game The Punisher: a cigarette dangling from his mouth, wearing an eye patch that revealed only one eye, scrutinizing Yujin.
"The Super Soldier Program can be restarted to protect Earth from alien threats. But, Mr. Yujin, you must agree to one condition."
"Go on."
"Next time there's a crisis like the Hammer Incident, can S.H.I.E.L.D. invite you to join the mission to defend Earth?"
Yujin didn't answer immediately. His hand rested on the black hole gun.
"That depends on the concentration of the super serum injected into me."
Nick Fury exhaled a ring of smoke.
"You'll be satisfied."
****
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